Faithful men and false women: Love‐suicide in early modern English popular print

Abstract

This article explores the representation of suicide committed for love in English popular print in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It shows how, within ballads and pamphlets, suicide resulting from failed courtship was often portrayed as romantic and an expression of devotion. Within this literature, however, young women often bore the blame for male suicide, influenced by early modern ideas about the innate characteristics of men and women. This examination interrogates a context in which suicide, rather than being condemned, was consistently depicted sympathetically. It also sheds crucial light on the representation and performance of masculinity and femininity in courtship and matters of love.